FRIDAY
S I N C E
DECEMBER 6, 2013
1 8 9 5 B.V. bolsters lineup
Vol. 118, Issue 193
105
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INCLUDING G.S.T.
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Award Winning Best Western Plus
PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALMO
FRUITVALE
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Mill workers get new contract
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BY ART HARRISON Times Staff
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While much of the news on the labour front in the area is rife with uncertainty, approximately 30 ATCO lumber employees in Fruitvale can breathe easier through the holidays. The United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1-405, which represents over 70 employees working in the Southern Interior for Interior Forest Lumber Relations Association (IFLRA) certified companies, has reached a tentative deal with the IFLRA for a five-year contract. The two sides have been in negotiations since May to arrive at a settlement for a new contract with the previous agreement having expired in July. USW Local 1-405 President, Doug Singer, expressed satisfaction on the new deal for the Interior mill workers. “It’s a five-year agreement with a 13 per cent wage increase over the term,” Singer said. “As well as a trades adjustment, improvements to pensions and health benefits, and some strong improvements to language around chargehands (non-management lead hand employees).” Singer said the negotiations proved much more fruitful than they have for some time, largely due See LUMBER, Page 3
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SHERI REGNIER PHOTO
Wilma Brooks-Hughes set up her display of polymer-on-glass one of a kind Christmas ornaments and handcrafted bracelets at the VISAC Gallery in downtown Trail this week. Hughes is one of many local artisans participating in the Seasonal Treasures gift shop that the gallery that will launch on Saturday in an open house from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. For information call 364-1181. Locally made fine art and crafts for Christmas gifts, available for purchase at the gallery, fit into the province’s proclamation for the week, titled “Buy Local Week.” The initiative encourages people living in British Columbia to support small businesses and grow the local economy by purchasing made-in-B.C. products and services.
Sensible BC hits target in West Kootenay Canvassers fall short in other parts of province as deadline nears BY ART HARRISON Times Staff
The petitions are in, the canvassers exhausted, but it looks like there will be enough signatures to make up the 10 per cent of residents required for the Sensible B.C. campaign to call for a provincial
referendum for the decriminalization of marijuana ... at least in the Kootenay West riding. A collective sigh of relief can be heard coming from the petition organizers in the region with only days left before the petitions need to be delivered to the Elections B.C. office in Victoria Monday. “We just got the confirmation 20 minutes ago,” said local organizer, Susan Yurychuk. “On November 18
we were at 56 per cent (of their target) and people were ready to give up but I told everybody to go out and get 22 more signatures and they did. We needed 3,162 for the 10 per cent in our riding and we got 3,733.” While organizers in the Kootenay West riding are happy with their efforts, the provincial campaign, organized by pro-cannabis activist, Dana Larsen, doesn’t appear to have garnered enough sig-
natures in every riding in the province, as is required by the referendum legislation. “We’re not going to have all the signatures in every single district,” said Larsen. “The process is designed to be difficult, gathering that many signatures in every riding in the province is not meant to be easy but we anticipate hitting our targets in the East and West Kootenay, as well as in many other areas.” See SOME, Page 3
Contact the Times: Phone: FineLine250-368-8551 Technologies 62937 Index 9 Fax:JN250-368-8550 80% 1.5 BWR NU Newsroom: 250-364-1242
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